Taylor Lewan responded to questions about his character in a manner befitting an offensive lineman — head on — when he was introduced to Nashville media on Friday.

The new Titans tackle spoke at length about two incidents from his college career at Michigan, including one in which he allegedly threatened to "rape" a woman if she went to police regarding a sexual assault investigation that involved a former teammate.

Lewan also will be formally charged later this month with one count of aggravated assault and two counts of assault and battery stemming from an on-campus altercation.

"You see a person and someone says (he) threatened another woman ... it doesn't matter who it is or if you've heard of this person before, you're obviously going to think that person is a bad person," Lewan said. "I'm not here to defend (my former teammate) in that situation or the girl. I will say I've never said those things before."

Lewan recalled the experience of speaking to police as a college freshman.

"It's uncomfortable, and I think the biggest uncomfortable thing about it was that someone said that you threatened someone — especially a woman," Lewan said. "The golden rule is you don't do that. To know that your mom hears these things. ... She is my mother. She doesn't want to hear those things. She raised me much better than that."

General manager Ruston Webster said it would have been difficult to draft Lewan if the Titans believed he made the rape comment.

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"If I would have found it to be true, I would have had grave concerns. I would have had to talk very in-depth to that person. But we didn't find that to be true," Webster said. "It's tough sometimes for college kids, especially athletes. They stand out in public places. They seem to be the ones that always get noticed, and he's a very noticeable person.

"We feel good about Taylor and the direction he'll take our team. I think the city of Nashville is going to feel good about him, too."

"We do a lot of work. Especially when you're talking about the first pick, it's not surface work," he said. "It's a lot of in-depth work by our scouts, security people, the league, everybody. I don't really think we could have done much else.

"You have to make decisions, and you get this information. With these guys, there's always a lot of things out there and some you find true and not true. You just have to work through it and get your best feel for the player."

On May 19, he will formally be charged with one count of aggravated assault and two counts of assault and battery related to a Dec. 1 altercation between Michigan and Ohio State fans following a game the previous day in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"I was completely breaking things up," Lewan said. "I did push guys to get everything out of the way. I never struck a man (with a) closed fist or anything of that nature. The thing is, I explained to (the Titans) everything and told them the truth, that's what it was. I'm happy that (the Titans) believed me."

Lewan said he's eager to begin a new chapter of his life in the NFL.

"My biggest thing is this is a fresh start for all of us," he said. "As far as the fans of the Titans go, give me an opportunity to prove myself or prove myself wrong."